LINCOLN COUNTY WEATHER
Lincoln County

Lincoln County

County Page:
Lincoln County Page

Towns:
Brady ·
Hershey ·
Maxwell ·
North Platte ·
Sutherland ·
Wallace ·
Wellfleet

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Lincoln County, Nebraska

County seat: North Platte · Created: January 7, 1860, as Shorter County; reorganized as Lincoln County in 1866 · Named for: President Abraham Lincoln · License plates: prefix 15 · Population: 34,676 (2020 census); peak 36,455 in 1980 · Area: 2,575 sq mi, Nebraska’s third largest · Time zone: Central

About Lincoln County

Lincoln County spans the forks of the Platte, where the North and South Platte rivers join near North Platte, with Sandhills to the north and high tableland to the south. Its city is North Platte; its villages are Sutherland, Hershey, Maxwell and Brady on the Lincoln Highway, and Wallace and Wellfleet on the old Burlington line to the south, with unincorporated Dickens between them. It borders McPherson County on the northwest, Logan on the northeast, Custer and Dawson on the east, Frontier on the southeast, Hayes on the southwest, and Perkins and Keith on the west. It is the westernmost Nebraska county entirely on Central Time.

A trading post opened at Cottonwood Springs in 1858, and Fort McPherson guarded the Oregon Trail nearby from 1863 to 1880. The Legislature created Shorter County in 1860, but it hardly functioned until it was reorganized and renamed for Lincoln in 1866; the Union Pacific reached North Platte that November, and the county seat moved there in 1867. Buffalo Bill Cody made his home at Scout’s Rest Ranch, and during World War II the North Platte Canteen fed about six million service members passing through on troop trains. The county has ten National Register listings, including Scout’s Rest Ranch (a National Historic Landmark since 2021), Fort McPherson National Cemetery, O’Fallon’s Bluff and the Johnston Memorial Building in Wallace.

Towns of Lincoln County

Cities and villages

North Platte

City · County seat · Pop. 23,390 · ZIP 69101
I-80 · US 30 · US 83

Lincoln County seat of 23,390 where the North and South Platte meet: Bailey Yard and the Golden Spike Tower, Buffalo Bill's Scout's Rest Ranch, the World War II Canteen story and NEBRASKAland Days.

Sutherland

Village · Pop. 1,313 · ZIP 69165
US 30 · NE 25 · I-80

Village of 1,313 on the Lincoln Highway, platted by the Union Pacific in 1891, just north of 3,000-acre Sutherland Reservoir, with O'Fallon's Bluff wagon ruts nearby.

Hershey

Village · Pop. 649 · ZIP 69143
US 30 · I-80

Village of 649 on the Lincoln Highway between North Platte and Sutherland, platted in 1892 and named for cattleman J. H. Hershey; home of World War II airman Ben Kuroki and a late-August fall festival.

Brady

Village · Pop. 383 · ZIP 69123
US 30 · I-80

Village of 383 on the Lincoln Highway two miles north of I-80, named for a trapper killed on Brady Island in the Platte; Brady Days each August and Jeffrey Lake to the south.

Wallace

Village · Pop. 318 · ZIP 69169
NE 23 · NE 25

High-tableland village of 318 in southwestern Lincoln County, platted on the Burlington in 1887, with its own K–12 school and the 1921 Johnston Memorial Building on the National Register.

Maxwell

Village · Pop. 257 · ZIP 69151
US 30 · I-80 · Spur 56A

Village of 257 on the Lincoln Highway east of North Platte, 4 miles from Fort McPherson National Cemetery on the site of an 1863 frontier fort.

Wellfleet

Village · Pop. 72 · ZIP 69170
US 83 · NE 23

Village of 72 on US 83 in southern Lincoln County, a Burlington town named for Wellfleet on Cape Cod, with a 1932 lake and a September fall festival with horse races on Main Street.

Travel Corridors

I-80 and US 30, the Lincoln Highway, follow the Platte valley through Sutherland, Hershey, North Platte, Maxwell and Brady beside the Union Pacific main line. I-80 Corridor → US 30 Corridor → US 83 crosses north–south through North Platte and Wellfleet. US 83 Corridor → NE 25 runs from Sutherland south through Wallace, NE 23 crosses the south through Wallace, Dickens and Wellfleet, and NE 97 heads north from North Platte to Tryon.

Cameras: View Lincoln County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Parks and Outdoors

Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park preserves Cody’s 1886 mansion and 1887 barn; the adjoining Buffalo Bill SRA, (308) 535-8035, has 31 campsites, trails and trail rides. Lake Maloney SRA, 6 miles south of North Platte, and Sutherland Reservoir SRA, about 3,000 acres south of Sutherland, have boating, fishing and campgrounds (Game and Parks, (308) 535-8025). Wildlife management areas along the Platte include North River (681 acres, north of Hershey), Muskrat Run, Platte, Fremont Slough, Pawnee Slough, Chester Island and Brady, and Cedar Valley (880 acres) east of Wellfleet. North Platte also has Cody Park’s campground and private RV parks near I-80.

Things to See

In North Platte: the Golden Spike Tower over Bailey Yard, the Lincoln County Historical Museum and its Canteen exhibit, Cody Park, and the downtown historic district. Near Maxwell: Fort McPherson National Cemetery. Near Sutherland: the O’Fallon’s Bluff wagon ruts. In Wallace: the Johnston Memorial Building.

Lincoln County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: North Platte · Sutherland · Wallace · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

McPherson County (northwest) · Logan County (northeast) · Custer County (east) · Dawson County (east) · Frontier County (southeast) · Hayes County (southwest) · Perkins County (west) · Keith County (west).

Events

NEBRASKAland Days in North Platte each June (June 17–27 in 2026) brings a PRCA rodeo at the Wild West Arena and concerts. Summer and fall bring the county fair at the fairgrounds on W. Rodeo Rd., Sutherland’s Fourth of July rodeo, Brady Days (first weekend of August), Maxwell Heritage Days (third weekend of August), the Hershey Fall Festival (late August) and the Wellfleet Fall Festival (September).

Events in Lincoln County

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Lincoln County Road Map

Click a map to open the full-size, printable county road map (PDF, Nebraska Dept. of Transportation).

Lincoln County at a Glance

Lincoln County, Nebraska — 2,575 square miles at the forks of the Platte with 34,676 people, county seat North Platte. 568 listings across 7 towns. Central Time.

Getting there: I-80 and US 30 along the Platte; US 83 from McCook or Valentine; daily flights from Denver into North Platte Regional Airport.

For visitors: Bailey Yard from the Golden Spike Tower, Buffalo Bill’s Scout’s Rest Ranch, the Canteen story, Fort McPherson National Cemetery, two state recreation lakes and NEBRASKAland Days. Regional hospital in North Platte.

Vehicles registered in Lincoln County carry license plate number 15. See what every Nebraska county number means.

Lincoln County Businesses & Places

568 listings in Lincoln County.

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